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Vaccination is an important tool in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with haematologic malignancies. The paper provides an analysis of the course of breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection in a group of vaccinated patients with haematological malignancy and a comparison with a historical cohort of 96 non-vaccinated patients with haematologic malignancies and bone marrow failure syndromes (two patients) in the treatment of COVID-19. A severe or critical course of COVID-19 was significantly less frequent in the group of vaccinated patients (10.2% vs. 31.4%, p = 0.003). The need for hospitalisation due to COVID-19 was significantly lower in vaccinated patients (27.1% vs. 72.6%, p < 0.0001) and the duration of hospitalisation was significantly shorter (10 vs. 14 days, p = 0.045). Vaccinated patients were insignificantly less likely to require oxygen therapy during infection. COVID-19 mortality was significantly higher in non-vaccinated patients (15.6% vs. 5.1%, p = 0.047). The paper demonstrated a significant positive effect of vaccination against COVID-19 on a less severe clinical course of infection, lower need for hospitalisation and mortality. However, the results need to be evaluated even in the context of new antivirals and monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 or virus mutations with different biological behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Basic flicker effect mitigation techniques description. • SVC control system adjusted for industrial applications, especially for industrial system with EAF. • Study and comparison of different signal processing techniques od input SVC controller signals. • Using of field measured data for testing proposed techniques by laboratory scale SVC system. • Evaluation flicker effect for proposed techniques and comparison with results of previous works. The work focuses on the possibilities of improving the Static Var Compensator (SVC) control system for more effective reduction of the flicker effect. The studied SVC control system consists of an open control loop, which provides a fast response to dynamic changes in Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) power, and a closed control loop, which provides precise control to ensure the required value of the power factor in the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). The improvement consists in the use of alternative techniques for signal processing of input control variables. The first alternative technique is the use of Second Order Generalized Integrator (SOGI), which is also used in other related applications. The second alternative technique is to use the flicker weighting function, which corresponds to the function used to measure the flicker effect using a standardized flicker meter. Experimental laboratory equipment and theoretical model in frequency domain was used to verify the properties of the proposed techniques. To simulate the dynamic behavior of EAF, data measured from real operation were used, which were implemented into an experiment using VSC. Analysis of measured data and data obtained from laboratory apparatus shows high similarity. The experiments were carried out in several variants to reflect the differences in the various stages of the production process in the EAF. For all variants, the resulting flicker effect was evaluated and the individual techniques were compared with each other and with the results of other works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Our observational study analysed fungal infection frequency within cohorts with versus without antifungal prophylaxis (AFP) among newly diagnosed first‐line venetoclax and azacitidine (VEN + AZA)‐treated acute myeloid leukaemias in Czech, Austrian and Slovak haematology centres. Among 186 patients, 85 (46%) received antifungal prophylaxis, while 101 (54%) received no prophylaxis. Fungal infections occurred in 1/85 patients with prophylaxis (1%) and 5/101 patients without prophylaxis (5%) (p = 0.222). No significant difference was recorded between cohorts with and without AFP in terms of death rate (p = 0.296) and overall survival (p = 0.844). In conclusion, most infections were not severe, developing during the first treatment‐cycle and did not affect patients' overall outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite lower virulence, the omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) still poses a relevant threat for immunocompromised patients. A retrospective multicentric study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis with tixagevimab/cilgavimab (Evusheld) with a 6-month follow-up for preventing severe COVID-19 in adult patients with hematology malignancy. Among the 606 patients in the cohort, 96 (16%) contracted COVID-19 with a median of 98.5 days after Evusheld administration. A total of 75% of patients had asymptomatic or mild severity of COVID-19, while just 25% of patients with SARS-CoV-2 positivity had to be hospitalized. Two patients (2%) died directly, and one patient (1%) in association with COVID-19. Eight patients (1.3%) of every cohort experienced adverse events related to Evusheld, mostly grade 1 and of reversible character. It was found that complete vaccination status or positive seroconversion was not associated with lower risk of COVID-19 infection. Previous treatment with an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody was associated with higher rates of COVID-19, while previous treatment with anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody was not, as was the case for recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or CAR-T cell therapy. Presence of other comorbidities was not associated with more severe COVID-19. The results support the growing evidence for Evusheld's efficacy against severe COVID-19 in patients with hematology malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]